Staying well and getting well aren't the same

Medicine is what happens inside a doctor's office. Health is everything that happens outside that office.

Medicine is out of your hands. Health is more in your control.

I say "more in your control" because there are things that don't always bend to our will. Our genes, our neighborhoods and the rest of our environment.

(Photo: Provided photo)

But we can exert some influence. Dr. Marielena Velez de Brown of the UR General Preventive Medicine and Public Health Residency program, explained during the most recent Talk and Walk with a Doc at the Westside Farmers Market on Genesee Street.

(Photo: Patti Singer)

A lot of it comes down to choices -- having another vegetable, reading a food label to see just how many calories are in a serving and sticking to that one serving -- talking a walk instead of sitting around. But some of those choices are harder to make if you don't have options -- no place to get vegetables, unsure how to figure out a food label, no opportunity to get some exercise.

Preventive medicine is about creating opportunities for people to make those choices. Sounds lofty and theoretical, but she said it's really about helping people stand up for what they want. Healthy food that's affordable. Safe streets.

When we don't have those things, people need medicine to fix problems.